Electrical connector assemblies are available for multi-conductor flat cables and which include an elongated housing or base having a cable terminating face. The housing mounts a plurality of contacts or terminals having respective conductor-receiving portions extending from the terminating face, such as insulation displacement terminating portions. The connector assembly often includes an elongated cable clamping cover having latch means engageable with complementary latch means on the housing to retain the cover against the cable terminating face of the housing. Either the cover, or the cover in combination with the housing, includes a cable-receiving passage for receiving the multi-conductor flat cable. The passage traverses the terminals which terminate the conductors. Such connector assemblies are used, for example, in a communication system wherein it may be desirable to tap a peripheral device into the cable of an existing system.
One of the problems occurring with electrical connector assemblies of the character described above, is the lack of precise positioning of the cable relative to the terminals. This problem is magnified by the ever-increasing miniaturization of electronic devices and their associated electrical connector assemblies, as well as the multi-conductor cables themselves. For instance, one type of electrical connector assembly of the character described simply includes a housing having terminals rigidly fixed therein, with insulation displacement portions of the terminals projecting from the cable terminating face of the housing. The cover then is used to drive the cable toward the housing, thereby driving the conductors of the cable into the projecting insulation displacement portions of the terminals. With this type of connector assembly, there simply is inadequate precise positioning of the cable relative to the terminals in contemporary miniaturized circuitry.
An improved connector assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,163, dated Dec. 15, 1992 and assigned to assignee of the present invention. In that patent, the cover has two parts hinged together to provide a clamping device for the cable. The clamped cable then is driven, by means of the cover, into insulation displacement termination with the terminals mounted in the housing. Although improved cable clamping is afforded by this type of connector assembly, and the assembly is an improvement over the prior art at that time, the cable still is driven into the terminals, lacking the precision required with some miniaturized electronics.
Still another approach to solving these problems is in an electrical connector assembly wherein the movable covers are eliminated, and the terminals, themselves, are moved into insulation displacement termination with the conductors of the cable. More particularly, a one-piece housing includes a slot into which the multi-conductor flat cable is inserted. Terminals are preloaded into the housing and are moved into insulation displacement positions piercing the insulation of the cable and terminating the conductors after the cable is inserted into the slot. Unfortunately, even this type of connector assembly does not provide precise positioning of the cable, itself, relative to the movable terminals.
The present invention is directed to solving this myriad of problems and conflicting structural approaches by providing an electrical connector assembly of the character described wherein both a cover and the terminals are movable relative to the housing, with the cover precisely clamping the cable, and then the terminals are moved into insulation displacement positions terminating the conductors of the cable.